Help me get started breeding

[Aar0n]

A little bit about me: I have been a leopard gecko owner for 2 years now. I have 3 geckos. 2 normal females and a male tremper giant. I have a BS in human genetics and public health and I am starting medical school in september.

I wont be able to work a normal 9-5 or even part time job while in school but was thinking maybe I could apply my genetic background to breeding. Even if I can't make much money doing this I think it would be fun and would be happy to break even. Is this something I could do or am I crazy for trying?

I was hoping someone could direct me to a guide or place where I can learn how to properly do this. Any help in getting started would be appreciated. Also which strains should I try to produce? Should I buy 2 breeders or just use the 3 that I already have? What kind of costs am I looking at?

 

[Halley]

Well if you looking for information on breeding Leos, then all you really have to do are a Google search, this will give you hundreds of pages, and you can go from there. Specific questions can be answered here. Really though it doesn't matter what strain you work with, just make sure you like it. As I’m sure you know, the giant tremper x normal females will give you 50% Normal Giants, het Tremper & 50% Normals, het Tremper. If you breed the offspring back together, or the offspring back to the father, it is possible to get Super Giant Tremper Albinos.

I don’t know how much help I was, but I hoped I helped a little.

 

[Aar0n]

Is there a good link that details the genome or at least the dominance of each major morph gene?

 

[Mel&Keith]

http://www.leopardgeckowiki.com

Breeding does take up a lot of time. We spend at least 3-4 hours in the gecko room everyday, sometimes 8 hours a day. Feeders are incredibly expensive now thanks to shipping costs. Lately we've been spending about $150 a month on feeders, plus electricity for heating racks and incubators. If you don't mind losing money and have an outlet for placing your gecko offspring then go for it. lol We spend way more than we make on breeding geckos but we enjoy it so there's a trade off. I would suggest trying to breed your own feeders and keeping a pair at first if you decide to go for it.

 

[jbodkin]

Breed your own feeders?

 

[lamarr]

Hooboy! Jbodkin has to explain to the wife that he's bringing roaches into the house "ON PURPOSE"!!!!
The cost of feeding will outstrip any money from selling the babies unless you can breed your own. I just looked over a buddies roach colonies (yes plural) and now the heebie jeebies are arguing with my billfold to see who wins!

 

[jbodkin]

Already have a dubia colony ... for Bearded ... I thought the post was hinting at breeding geckos as feeders

 

[bohannbj]

I would suggest buying geckos in the 50 to 100 dollar range and starting there. That's where the market seems to be currently.